Why the Battle of Tours

The Battle of Tours (October 732) was a battle between Frankish (Charles Martel) and Muslim (Abdul Rahman) forces near Poitiers and Tours in north-central France. The Frankish forces were victorious. Gibbon saw the battle as the high tide of Muslim advance into Europe and Leopold von Ranke as "the turning point of one of the most important epochs in the history of the world".

Many today see a similar battle -- for hearts and minds -- in the world today. Hence "The Battle of Tours."

For example, Nonie Darwish says, there is “a battle for the soul of the world” between western tradition and a radical backward-looking version of Islam.

Sam Harris puts it more bluntly in "The End of Faith": "We are at war with Islam". (or, from others "we may not be at war with Islam, but Islam is at war with the west".

I remember first reading the Koran, early after 911. I was shocked and can still feel the hairs come up on the back of my neck. I thought, and said to my wife "if this is what we're dealing with, we've got a real problem".

I started this blog for myself, just to keep some items of interest to myself. Occasionally others wander by, in which case welcome, and if you wish to comment please do so to the email below.

On the issue of Islam, I've come to this conclusion: that the body of doctrine -- the Trinity of Koran, Hadith and the Sirah (the Life) of Muhammad -- is profoundly in contradiction to our traditions of freedom of speech, freedom of conscience, equality of women and minorities. Of course not all Muslims are against the rights and freedoms of the west. But the core ideology of Islam is.

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I'm also posting on other bits and pieces that grab my interest, such as on China and Hong Kong, climate change, the war on drugs, and general miscellanea and ephemera.

I have not turned on “comments” setting, but I’m happy to have comments to my email, and I’ll ask you if I propose to post your comment.

"...it is the duty of those who have accepted Islam to strive unceasingly to convert or subjugate those who have not. This obligation is without limit of time or space. It must continue until the whole world has either accepted the Islamic faith or submitted to the power of the Islamic state."

-- Bernard Lewis, renowned historian of Islam and the Middle East, in The Political Language of Islam, p72-3.

In other words:

"Islam is unique among religions of the world in having a developed doctrine, theology and legal system that mandates warfare against unbelievers."